Weight Training, your body & mind need it!

Weight training has many benefits. Safety must be priority
though, because if you get injured you might not be in a position to carry on
lifting to receive the benefits later on. Technique is the key, it`s not how
much you can lift, but rather what you do with the weight you can lift.

For example, if you’re benching 200lb in a sloppy manner,
your goal should be to reduce the weight till you find a weight you can utilize
with proper form, and not be looking to increase the 200lb with sloppy form, injury
is just around the corner if you carry on this way.

The Benefits of Weight Training

You’ll Burn More Body Fat
– Build more muscle and you’ll keep your body burning fat all day long. Lifting
weights can increase your lean body mass, which increases the number of overall
calories you burn during the day. Burning extra calories post-workout
plus building muscle, that’s the surefire way to get the body you want.

In recent research on overweight or obese adults (age 60 and over), the combination of a low-calorie diet and weight training resulted in greater fat loss than a combination of a low-calorie diet and walking workouts, according to a 2017 study published in the journal Obesity. The adults who walked instead of weight trained did lose a comparable amount of weight—but a significant portion of the weight loss included lean body mass. Meanwhile, the adults who did strength training-maintained muscle mass while losing fat. This suggests that strength training is better at helping people lose belly fat compared with cardio because while aerobic exercise burns both fat and muscle, weight training burns almost exclusively fat.

You’ll Especially Lose Belly Fat – While it is true that you can’t spot reduce—your body is
born with pre-conceived places it wants to store fat—a University of Alabama
study found that the women who lifted weights lost more intra-abdominal fat
(deep belly fat) than those who just did cardio. This not only helps you lose
weight and build a more toned body, but it also lessens your risk of diabetes,
metabolic syndrome, and some cancers. Not to mention, lifting heavy weights
recruits your core, giving you an ab workout without even trying.

Strength training may have a reputation of making women
“bulk up” but that simply not true. The more your weight comes
from muscle (rather than fat) the smaller you’ll be. In fact, body weight often
goes up with strength training, but dress size goes down one or two sizes. Plus,
it’s really difficult to get body-builder huge. Women produce about 5 to
10 percent the amount of testosterone men do, limiting muscle-building
potential when compared to men. To seriously gain size, you’d pretty much
need to live in the weight room.

Your Muscles Will Look More Defined – Love the lean, defined muscles on super-fit ladies? If
women want more definition, they should lift heavier since they cannot get
bigger muscles because of low testosterone levels, So, lifting heavier has the
potential to make women more defined.

You may not have the genetics to look exactly like your favorite model, but you don’t need singular genes to be a shining example of muscle definition. You have the same types of physiological hardware as the rest of us, and your body (and muscles) will respond fantastically if given the proper stimuli. – Weight training.

You’ll Burn More Calories Than Cardio – Just sitting on your butt reading this, you’re burning calories—if you lift weights, that is. You may burn more calories during your 1-hour cardio class than you would lifting weights for an hour, but a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that women who lifted burned an average of 100 more calories during the 24 hours after their training session ended.

Another study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Metabolism found that, following a 100-minute strength training session, young women’s basal metabolic rate spiked by 4.2 percent for 16 hours after the workout—burning about 60 more calories.

And the effect is magnified when you increase the weight, as
explained in a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports
& Exercise. Women who lifted more weight for fewer reps, 85
percent of their max load for 8 reps, burned nearly twice as many
calories during the two hours after their workout than when they did more reps
with a lighter weight, 45 percent of their max load for 15 reps.

Why? Your muscle mass largely determines your resting
metabolic rate—how many calories you burn by just living and breathing. the
more muscle you have, the more energy your body expends. Everything you
do, from brushing your teeth, to sleeping, to checking social media,
you’ll be burning more calories.

You’ll Strengthen Your Bones – Weightlifting doesn’t only train your muscles; it trains
your bones. When you perform a curl, for example, your muscles tug on your
arm’s bones. The cells within those bones react by creating new bone cells. Over
time, your bones become stronger and denser.

The key to this one is consistency, as research has
shown that lifting heavy weights over time not only maintains bone mass but can
even build new bone, especially in the high-risk group of post-menopausal
women.

You’ll Get Stronger
– Lifting lighter weights for more reps is great for building muscle endurance,
but if you want to increase your strength, increasing your weight load is key.
Add compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and rows to your heavy
weights and you’ll be amazed at how fast you’ll build strength.

The payoff? Everyday activities (carrying groceries, pushing
open a heavy door, hoisting a kid) will be easier—and you’ll feel like an
unstoppable powerhouse, too. Lifting weights benefits you in and out of the
gym.

You’ll Prevent Injury – Achy hips and sore knees don’t have to be a staple of your morning run. Strengthening the muscles surrounding and supporting your joints can help prevent injuries by helping you maintain good form, as well as strengthening joint integrity.

You’ll Be a Better Runner – Stronger muscles mean better performance—period. Your core will be better able to support your body’s weight and maintain ideal form during other exercises (like running), plus your arms and legs will be more powerful. What’s more, since strength training increases the number and size of calorie-burning muscle fibers fueling your performance, strength training could actually help you burn more calories during your cardio workouts.

You’ll Increase Your Flexibility – Ignore that super ripped guy fumbling in yoga class for
just a minute. Researchers from the University of North Dakota pitted
static stretches against strength-training exercises and found that
full-range resistance training workouts can improve flexibility just as well as
your typical static stretching regimen.

The key word here is “full-range” If you can’t
complete the full motion—going all the way up and all the way down—with a given
weight, you may need to use a lighter weight and work up to it.

You’ll Boost Heart Health
– Cardiovascular exercise isn’t the only exercise that’s, well, cardiovascular.
In fact, strength training can up your heart health, too. In one Appalachian
State University study, people who performed 45 minutes of moderate-intensity
resistance exercise lowered their blood pressure by 20 percent. That’s as good
as—if not better than—the benefits associated with most blood pressure pills.

Controlled Blood Sugar
Levels – Weight training is something
anyone with Type 2 diabetes should incorporate into their routine. A 2013
review published in the journal BioMed Research International shows that, in
addition to building muscle, strength training also improves the muscle’s
ability to take in and use glucose or blood sugar.

In your muscle cells, you have these transporters that pick-up glucose from the blood and deliver it to the muscle cells. Strength training improves their functioning to pick up a lot more glucose from the blood and into muscle, thereby decreasing blood sugar levels.

You’ll Feel Empowered and confident – Throwing around some serious iron doesn’t just empower people
in the movies. Lifting heavier weights—and building strength as a result—comes
with a big self-esteem boost. Your strength will not only show in your lean,
toned body, but also in your attitude.

Strength has a way of integrating
into all areas of your life, in the gym and out, by constantly challenging
yourself to do things you never thought possible, your confidence grows. Weightlifting empowers
you.

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Author: selfdefensespecialist

I`m Nigel Taylor – originally from England – owner of The Backyard Gym in Round Rock Texas. We specialize in personal training, kickboxing cardio and self-defense. With over 25 years experience as a personal trainer, I know what works! From weight loss to bulking up to toning up, I can help you get your desired look and achieve your fitness goals. I can also offer you the privacy of a 100% private personal training studio in which to enjoy and get the most out of your workouts.
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About Me

I`m Nigel Taylor, originally from England, now living in Round Rock Texas. I have been in the fitness industry for over 25 years, specializing in Self-defense and kickboxing, as well as personal training sessions. I like to offer something a little different. Something for everyone is my goal.